Love this club

Fulham boss Sanchez won't gamble in market

Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez says he's not prepared to take any gambles in the summer market.

"We've had a strict policy this summer that we wanted players that we knew. Players that were hungry and keen to prove themselves in the Premiership - who knew what British football was about. We restricted ourselves to players that had basically played in English football," he told fulhamfc.com.

"I've no doubts that all the players will prove themselves good enough for the Premier League. The criteria I was working against was would they improve Fulham and I know without a doubt they'll improve Fulham. They'll give us strength as well because we didn't have much depth in the team or in the squad last season. They're players that we all know.

"There are two or three players that we're looking at that we're hoping if we can work things out we can get them in which would be the icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned. It needed a major overhaul, the fact that we were one point away from relegation last year. The Chairman realised that without major work this summer then we we'd probably get relegated next year. With the money in the Premier League now you can't afford to be out of this division.

"I'm excited about next season. I'll have more shape on this team that than the one I took over. We ended up going to Middlesbrough on the last day of the season with 15 fit players. I've been able to shape the team, spend longer with the team and the players know what to expect from me. I am excited and I've no doubts that we'll be more competitive this season."